Dec 4 How to Make Natural Pine Soap...Favorite Christmas Recipe #2

Don't you just love the scent of pine trees? Especially now, during the holidays, Pine is "the" scent! Pine is uplifting, calming, and mentally clarifying too. When I use my Pine Soap in the shower, it just starts the day off right! Here is a recipe for Pine Essential Oil Soap that can be used with either the Cold Process or the Hot Process methods. I will link to my Hot Process Soap photo tutorials for clear, step by step directions on how to make hot process soap! ---If you choose the hot process route, you can use the soap right away! Bonus! :-)

I LOVE making our own handmade soap. This is my number 2 favorite for Christmas & Holidays---Evergreen Pine. I either use powdered Nettle leaves OR, in this case French Green Clay for a natural lovely green tint. It's sunrise in this pic, so the green is muted a bit.

Ingredients for Pine Essential Oil Soap

Lye Solution:

15 ounces distilled or filtered water

7.2 ounces sodium hydroxide (I use food grade lye...it just makes me feel better, but if you want, you can often find it in hardware stores.)

Oil Blend:

15 ounces Organic Olive Oil (The best prices I've found for EVOO is at Costco.)

NOTE: The above are Amazon links, and their prices are great plus fast shipping. For oils, butters, essential oils (for soap making) and other natural ingredients, (especially if you plan to make a few batches of soap) I recommend Bulk Apothecary. For some of the oils, you have to make a bit of a larger purchase (but not for all), and the prices are super! They also ship quickly.

My other favorite place for herbs (colorants) and essential oils for soap making is Starwest Botanicals.

Tools You Will Need to Make Your Hot Process Soap:

Basic Directions for Hot Process Soap:

(If you prefer Cold Process soap, this recipe will work just fine. Just follow your usual steps for cold process.)

NOTE: For detailed and complete picture tutorial, please visit: Make Your Own Hot Process Soap and How to Make Hot Process Soap. Both of these articles are very step-by-step with pictures. Just apply the specific directions to this recipe, especially if you are a beginning soap maker. But here are basic directions:

First off! Safety in Soap Making:

WEAR GLOVES AND SAFETY GLASSES! I also wear a long sleeve shirt. Lye is extremely caustic and burns terribly if it gets on your skin. IF it does, apply vinegar, as it counteracts the alkalinity of the lye. **You can buy gloves and safety glasses at your local hardware store!

1. Heat up your crock pot on low. Put your oil blend into the crock pot (no essential oils until the very end) to melt together and liquify.

2. Now get your lye solution going. ALWAYS pour the lye beads INTO the water-----NEVER the other way around, or you could have some major problems! Mix well. I do this part outside because the fumes are terrible. Set this mixture aside, away from pets and children.

3. Now blend up your essential oils!

4. Pour your clay into the oil blend in the crock pot. I like to do this now as it avoids clumping later.

5. Once the oils are liquid, gently pour the lye solution into the crockpot with the oils.

6. Using your hand blender, mix the oils and lye solution to "trace." This simply means to a point where it looks like pudding, with peaks.

7. Put your lid on the crock pot and let it "cook." You will see it go through different stages (see articles above).

8. When it reaches a waxy, transparent stage, it is most likely done. Check it out! First take a bit between your fingers, and see how it feels. Does it feel a bit like warm wax? Is it translucent? If so, then give it the ZAP test. Just place it on the tip of your tongue. You should feel no ZAP and just taste the good taste of natural soap. If you get ZAPPED (and you will know if you do), then it's not done yet.

**You can also use a pH test kit. I actually did this for about my first 5 batches or so because I was paranoid. But then I could tell what was going on with it.

9. At this point, turn off the crock pot and wait a few minutes. NOW, pour in your essential oil mixture and stir, stir, stir!!! You want those oils completely mixed into the soap.

10. Pour into your soap mold and put aside for about 45 minutes to an hour.

11. At this point, once the soap has cooled some, you have two choices: You can slice off the top (if there is one---I always have one because of the size molds I use), and make soap balls by forming that sliced off top into balls and letting cool. OR You can let it all just cool down and slice off the top when you're ready.

12. Unmold the soap when it's completely cooled down (like overnight). Cut as needed. A note about cutting soap: With hot process soap, there is no need to cut it all up right away. You can cut it as you need it. However, keep in mind that the longer the soap sits and the more evaporation takes place, the harder the soap will be to cut. Just a thought. I have no problems cutting my soap after even weeks.

That's it!

Let me know if you try it and if you have any thoughts or questions!? Do you make your own soap? I'm really interested in learning more about cold process, if you do that style!

By the way, sign up for the HHH Newsletter and never miss a thing! :-) Plus, you'll get two eBooks (12 Essential Oil Diffuser Recipes and How to Use Herbs to Relax) free as a gift from me!

P.S. There are affiliate links in this post, and if you happen to click on one and make a purchase (not necessarily the item linked), then I will make a small commission at no extra cost to you. The opinions in my articles are my own and not influenced by this fact. I hope you will consider supporting HHH and my blogging habit! :-) Thank you!

Hi. I'm Heidi. I am a mid-life homesteader/teacher-turned-blogger! We live off-grid on less than an acre with lots of animals... READ MORE....

Have you ever wanted to make your own natural soap...the way YOU want it? Or, to experiment with the hot process method? Here is everything you need to know...You won't have any questions about hot process soap making and customizing your soaps once you read my eBook!

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